:: Archipelapogo ::

:: 26.9.01 ::

Right on. I went to Blockbuster tonight to try to rent Do the Right Thing, but for some reason the store in suburban white-bread south tulsa doesn't seem to carry Spike Lee movies. Regardless, I picked up "Steal This Movie (the true story of Abbie Hoffman, based on his own words)" and I cannot recommend this movie enough. Knowing very little about Hoffman, this movie really opened my eyes to another of the great revolutionaries of the sixties. He had a flavor for the absurd, but never without a point. The movie stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Janeane Garofalo, and Donal Logue, among others. It's really well done and biographical without being too worshipy. It mixes a lot of authentic footage from the sixties (rally at the pentagon, chicago dnc '68, etc.) in with the film to give it a very authentic feel. It also raises some interesting points about the awkward time we're living in currently. There's a lot of talk about how this new "war on terrorism" is this, my, generation's turn to prove itself, to defend freedom, and to do away with the evils of the world. There's been a lot of coverage in the news lately with veterans of WWII (but not Vietnam, i guess the comparison is ill-adviised, all things considered....we want to be positive going into a war, no?) saying that their hopeful, yet skeptical that the "slackers of generation X" have the fortitude to do what "the greatest generation" did. There's plenty of people willing to take orders and do "the right thing" in these times to satisfy those worries and take care of business the way that everyone seems to think should be done. However, as D'Onofrio says at the end of "steal this movie", it is our responsibility to also make sure that tomorrow is better than today. It's also time for this generation to check our governemnt in the way that the system of "checks and balances" fails to. It's time that we watch with a discernful eye what our "leaders" say and do and make public and remedy the wrongs that will/are being committed. Noam Chomsky said in "the responsiblity of intellectuals" (1966) that it is the responsibility of intellectuals to "expose the lies of governments, to analzye actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions." To "speak the truth and expose lies". Just as there has always been people enlisted in the military in times of peace, yet there are more in times of war, there have been people carrying on this tradition during times of peace. The women's rights movement in the seventies, the environmental movement in the eighties, and the anti-globalization ralliers at the recent world bank and IMF meetings, just to name a few. But as young men and women flock to the enlistment offices these coming months or years, it is also time to call in the balancing populous of men and women to make the necessary checks that are essential to these scary times. The truth is out there. As Chomsky said at the beginning of the Vietnam movement, "The facts are known to all who care to know. The press, foreign and domestic, has presented documentation to refute each falsehood as it appears. But the power of the government (and I'll add mass media) propaganda apparatus is such that the citizen who does not undertake a research project on the subject can hardly hope to confront government pronouncements with fact." Will our generation come through in this respect as well?
:: Scott [+] ::
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More news from the left. I found this letter from Michael Moore via rage against the machine's website. Once again, don't agree with it all, but he raises some good issues:

"Bush keeps calling what we are in “a war.” Has anyone told him that the more he keeps using this word, the more HE puts US in jeopardy? A “war” implies that two sides are participating in an action to kill as many of the other side as possible. Bush and the pundits use the word like it’s a one-sided deal, like we’re going to be the only ones doing the bombing. War means we bomb them, then they bomb us. That’s what war is, you idiots. We strafe Afghanistan, then the terrorists drop a canister of chemical weapons in the New York subway. We send in a group of commandos and wipe out a camp of Muslims, they take out the Sears Tower." -- I couldn't agree more. Bush said it first, and the media has taken it and ran like hell. It not only fuels enemies fires, but it makes many in our country more scared. I've pretty much been avoiding the media lately except to check in and make sure nothing big has happened as of late. Probably the smartest thing i could do right now.

"Bush now says this is “a war against the evil people in the world.” Oh, really? THAT war! Yeah, we should be able to defeat “evil,” oh, sometime in the next millennium or two. Get a grip. “War” is not going to get the justice we demand or make us more safe. " -- Once again true. Our country is going for the same quick fix feel-good remedy that the masses always call out for, swift "judge, jury and executioner" style solutions. Bush's comparison to the Old West ("wanted: dead or alive") is more allegorical than he realizes. Yet, how many of us would want to live in those times? We've progressed for a reason. Or have we? We'll see.

"There is a different way to go, and I will lay it out in a later letter, but to simplify it for now and put it in a nutshell, it goes like this: One billion people on this planet have no clean drinking water. Two billion have no electricity. Three billion have never made a phone call from their home. We have the money and the people-power to alter ALL of this. We also have the moral imperative to stop supporting repressive regimes and corporations who exploit these people. When we decide to help improve these billions of people’s lives, we will pull the rug out from under the terrorists who need those they send to their deaths to be poor and exploited and angry at us. The multi-millionaire bin Laden isn’t going to give up HIS life!" -- Moore has touched upon a key point here. I read a book called "Inside the Racist Mind" several years ago and the Klan and other similar organizations purposely target down on their luck, uneducated, loners simply because they're easy to manipulate and have little to lose. I'm sure bin Ladin is doing the same thing. Yeah, Moore's explanation is a bit oversimplified, but isn't everything else we've been hearing too?

"We are now driving across Ohio toward West Virginia and Pennsylvania. On the radio, NPR is running a history report on Osama bin Laden. We are told that he comes from a wealthy family and that they are the main builders for the Saudi royal family. They’ve remodeled palaces and built holy sites. Their construction projects are everywhere. Kathleen turns to me, and with one word sums up the kind of low-life we are talking about here. “Contractors,” she says. “Bin Laden is a contractor.” Indeed, it all made sense." -- and that's just damn funny.

Before you attack this letter or my comments, I would encourage you to read the piece in it's entirety. It should prevent some meaningless attacks. The rest are more than welcome!!!!


:: Scott [+] ::
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After the initial shock set in after the attacks last week, I really wanted to know what some people's reactions were. I thought of Saddam Hussein, who's feelings have been well publicized, and the American Intellectual Left, namely Ralph Nader and Tom Morello (guitarist for Rage against the machine). Why i chose those two, I can't explain, but i value their opinons. i haven't found anything by them, but I did stumble upon (via punkplanet) an interview with Noam Chomsky , noted leftist author/intellectual. I have never agreed with everything that Noam has said/written, but i do respect his point of view, and there is much to be learned from him. However, he is WAY to the left (much more so than I am) so i do take in his thoughts critically. There are some good points raised in this interview though. The most notable (for those of you too lazy/time pressed to read the interview):

"The U.S., and much of the West, prefers a more comforting story. To quote the lead analysis in the _New York Times_ (Sept. 16), the perpetrators acted out of "hatred for the values cherished in the West as freedom, tolerance, prosperity, religious pluralism and universal suffrage." U.S. actions are irrelevant, and therefore need not even be mentioned (Serge Schmemann). This is a convenient picture, and the general stance is not unfamiliar in intellectual history; in fact, it is close to the norm. It happens to be completely at variance with everything we know, but has all the merits of self-adulation and uncritical support for power."

"The initial response was to call for intensifying the policies that led to the fury and resentment that provides the background of support for the terrorist attack, and to pursue more intensively the agenda of the most hard line elements of the leadership: increased militarization, domestic regimentation, attack on social programs."
:: Scott [+] ::
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From FoxNews, Clear Channel, who is the largest owner of radio stations in the country, have compiled a list of songs with questionable lyrics that they're encouraging their stations not to play due to last weeks attacks, for fear that the lyrics will have a negative effect on people. Ok, this is really dumb. Some of the songs can kind of make sense, i.e. "blow up the outside world" by soundgarden, "another one bites the dust" by queen, etc. But some of them are just ridiculous. "sure shot" by the beastie boys? "all songs by rage against the machine", "bridge over troubled water"? have these people even listened to these songs? It really seems that they just looked at titles of songs and said, "oh that contains jump, death, or a word somehow related to an airplane, so we can't play it, no matter what". Jeez.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I'm trying to think of positive things that can change our culture once the dust clears on these events. here's my hope for the future:
1) I really hope that the government and the UN will re-evaluate our policies in the middle east (and for that matter, many other international countries). There has been so little coverage in the media on bin Ladin and other terrorist/fundamentalist organization's beliefs regarding the US et al. and it would be a shame for 5000+ people to die without learning a big lesson (other than that of the airline industry and their troubles).
2) I'm really hoping that the losses for the airline industry and the fears of everyday citizens will lead to a new call for a valid and much-needed train system in our country. Trains are much more efficient, eco-friendly, and on the whole, safer. Plus, they're really cool.
3) I hope that if our economy does go into recession, which is probably likely, people in this country will learn a little more about what's important in life, especially the kids. The people my age have never seen anything like past recessions, and it's made many of this generation ignorant and spoiled. Plus, looking at many of the recessions in the past, there was some great art produced (different forms of jazz in the 20's, punk in the late 70's, the emergence of quality hip-hop in the 80's, etc.)
4) This is the most likely, but I think many people in the nation are re-evaluating how they spend their time, and learning not to take life for granted. There's so many things in life that people put before family, friends, and life, be it work, stuff, power, and many other things that aren't important, and it's been a while since we've had something this big to make us re-evaluate our lives. (okay, close to number three, but still, different)

i know there are many more postive things that can come of this, and i'd appreciate any input people would like to have, and i'll add it to this list.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Anyone know about anything concerning the charge that the news programs on television are levying against advertisers right now since the vast majority of the country is glued to watching news programs? Now that CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews and the others are back to showing commercials, and most of the programming is now speculation, i'm very skeptical about these stations getting into a ratings war over war. Conspiracies, suppositions, etc. are exciting many folks, and I would hate to see these channels turn to sensationalistic reporting when all we need right now is the truth.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I, for one, am not happy with the new Tulsa World website, b/c there's very little to acquire w/o paying. Not cool. However, looking at the post on the ignorant actions against innocent people as a result of the crap going on lately, I'm inspired to write about an article put in the local section on Thursday, that very little paid attention to. A Pakistani man was accosted in front of a convenience station on Wednesday night by three men who ensued to beat the crap out of him, among other things, hospitalizing him and knocking out five of his teeth (denise's worst nightmare!). This was so horseshit. According to his girlfriend, he had plans to give blood, and felt very bad for the incidients, as all of us do. Now, he's a recipient of donated blood. Ironic, eh? He moved from Pakistan after dealing with a lot of crap there, but said, as much as he lived in fear there, no one ever beat him. I hate this mentality. It just sucks. Capital S U C K S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:: Scott [+] ::
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I've been suspiciously quiet on here lately with all the recent evernts. That's because, A) i've been thinkng a lot, (probably too much) and am going through some serious personal reflection time. B) Everything that anyone out there cuold say is already being said, and in ways that I could probably better put it. However, there's a piece of the puzzle that i would like to comment on. After the attacks on the US Embassys in '98 at Kenya and Tanzania, the US sent cruise missile strikes at places that Bin Laden may be, and imposed "economic sanctions" against Afghanistan. I hate economic sanctions. They don't work, and it only hurts the poor and powerless in the countries that they are enacted against.

Let me clarify: investorwords.com (got a link from dictionary.com) defines economic sanctions as "Restrictions upon international trade and finance that one country imposes on another for political reasons." These can include, but are not limited to, quotas (limits on the number of a certain good that can be imported or exported from or to a country), very high tarriffs (taxes imposed on goods entering or leaving a country), or the out and out ban of international trade to/from a country. Most notably, the US has current economic sanctions against Iraq and Cuba. Ten years after the gulf war, the US is one of the very few countries still with sanctions against Iraq, and, to my knowledge, the only country still with a ban on Cuban goods and travel. Sanctions are also cited as one of the biggest reasons that the Japanese decided to declare war on the US, via the horrible Pearl Harbor incident.

Justification for these sanctions can be anything from an attack on a government or leader (aka the Taliban or Hussein) trying to get them on their knees asking for mercy, to the fact that some of the ingredients in certain goods can be used for chemical or biological warfare, the reason that millions of Iraqi children cannot get immunized, and are dying at an alarming rate. President George Bush has said that (assuming it's not a country that we already have imposed sanctions on) in addition to the military strikes that someone is going to incur, if governments are uncooperative, sanctions will be imposed on a very high level.

Why am I against sanctions? Look at the effect in the past of these acts. You have poor people dying in almost genocidal numbers in Iraq without immunizations, pharmaceutical drugs, and nourishable food. Iraq is a country very dependent on international trade, due to the fact that they basically have one major natural resource, oil. The country's geographical landscape is not full of arable land, like ours is. And is Saddam Hussein suffering due to these sanctions? Hell, no. He lives in the lap of luxury. According to an article in the September issue of Maxim (okay, not the best source of political commentary, but I trust their facts), Hussein's two sons, Uday, 37 and Qusay, 34, have BMW 1000 motorcycles, a Porsche 928, hundreds of watches, including several jewel-encrusted Rolexes, and several other "luxury items". When people are used to this lifestyle, and have absolute power over a country, they will kill, rob, kidnap, and do what it takes to get whatever they desire. (the article on hussein's sons is interesting and disturbing. it's not available online, but check it out if you get the chance). The people in charge of such a government don't care for the people, despite what their propaganda says. Therefore, the only people hurting as a result of sanctions are the poor and powerless masses. Any hope of insurrection is squished at first light. (For a great book and example of absolute power, take a look at a book called "the Emporer" by Ryszard Kapuscinski about Haile Selassie, the former emporer of Ethiopia, who ruled for 44 years before his army finally turned on him. The book is one of a trilogy on absolute power by Kapuscinski, which also includes "Shah of Shahs" about Iran and another book that i can't find right now, neither of which i've read, but i think i would enjoy)

US governmental feelings about sanctions can be summed up by the following citation from an essay available from the international action committee: "When former American secretary of state Madeleine Albright was asked by CBS’s`60 minutes` presenter Lesley Stahl if she thought the death of half a million children was a price worth paying she replied that "this is a very hard choice but the price, we think, is worth it." The half a million children [at the time in 1996] to which she referred were mainly under 5 year olds who had been slaughtered not by bombs but by the silent killer of near total sanctions imposed by the UN in 1990 on a country heavily dependent on imports." Feelings such as this point not only to the fact that these sanctions are widely regarded as detrimental to the public of said country, but that many of the points raised by critics of the united states are valid and worth checking out.

I, obviously, don't agree with the events that have happened this week. They are horrible and disgusting. However, we, as citizens of this country, are partly to blame for tolerating (be it through ignorance or laziness) efforts by our government of this kind. When the new "war on terrorism" is finished (God-willing, it will be soon) I strongly encourage that the people in this country take a look at why there are organizations with such heartfelt hatred for our country and the foundation for their beliefs.


:: Scott [+] ::
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Once again, sean's been busy. If you're reading this, you probably have already read his page or are getting ready to. i would encourage it.
:: Scott [+] ::
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The events of the last few days have left me sick. Everything about them. There are no bright spots. And the reaction by people here is not helping. There have been reports of fights in a prison in Washington State due to attacks on muslims, a mosque in texas that had windows broken, and phone threats against muslims everywhere from TU to DC. I just don't understand. ABC news did a poll of people, and "-Two thirds said the United States should retaliate even if innocent people are killed. Majorities of men and women favored that step, though men were more likely to favor it." That's just sick.

Sean has been doing wonderful posting lately and has some great links. I think the bin ladin interview he's got linked was printed in a Newsweek a couple of years ago. It's eerie, just like this whole scenario.


:: Scott [+] ::
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In the wake of tragedy, words cannot be expressed (by me, anyways) that can console, enlighten, or appease anyone. However, I implore anyone reading this to seriously consider donating blood these next few days. Barring a big line, it takes about an hour, and really is not all that painful. And each donated pint can save three to four lives. Hopefully this donated blood can find its way to victims of today's nauseating incidents, but even if they aren't, the blood will go to someone that needs it. i just hope that this will be enough motivation to get people who are afraid into the red cross and doing some good.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I saw the debut of the "behind the music" on Blind Melon last night, and was reminded and enlightened to the brilliance, yet messed up life of Shannon Hoon. I never was a huge blind melon fan, but they had some great songs. so, i downloaded some. I would encourage you to dig out the old cd's/tapes or check them out. The songs I've been listening to include "change", "tones of home", "galaxy", and "mouith full of cavities". Good stuff.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I realized the value of stream-of-consciousness tonight. I've never been a big fan of reading s-o-c (go into your own internal debate about that statement and weblogs here), although i've enjoyed some s-o-c writing, the most cited example (and justafiably so...) being on the road by kerouac. However, i went downtown to the Gypsy coffee shop by myself, and just wrote for an hour. I'd planned to write about one topic, and did for a considerable time, but it led me into other feelings and thoughts that i wouldn't have had before. It's very s-o-c, so i don't really feel like sharing any of it, but it very much can be shaped into an actual inspired writing, in some form. It's very much like the thought process that goes into writing, or expressing yourself in some other form, but it' smore concrete and allows you the ability to mess around with the words to make them more coherent and better emoted. Just a thought......
:: Scott [+] ::
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Went to Hellbilly deluxe tonight in Claremore with ryan to see some "bluegrass" aka country. not fun. interesting people watching and some fair food (not fair as in almost good, but fair as in state fair white trash extravaganza). almost got caught in a really bad storm, but avoided it pretty well. it was free, so i won't complain anymore.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Boo! Hiss! this sucks. god bless corporate rock.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Also this weekend, we (denise, ryan and i) ran into our friend Shawn Kruggel, who was in for the weekend from Chicago. The current issue of Punk Planet is the first that he had anything to do with (he's just copy editing right now), so i picked it up. It's been probably two years since i've bought an issue of PP, but i was really impressed with this issue. There's the typical good record reviews, interviews, book reviews, columns, etc. Plus, i dig the ads in publications like this b/c it lets you know who's got new stuff out, or you can check out new bands, etc. There's also a great interview with Ralph Nader, and an article on Honduras and the trials that some are going through to get land that has been promised to them. Great mag. Plus, shawn left me a shirt and some stickers, so that was rad.

Highlights from the Nader interview: "...the way they campaign is like there's a force field around them. Gore went months without a press conference. They almost never have to answer tough questions because they're not exposed to tough questions. Their handlers or advance people have this force field that separates them even from the press that travels with them. The press really can't get at them. And there are ways that these candidates can punish the press if they get too "uppity," so, these campaigns are pretty much farces. They're basically parades in front of people who are expected to watch, but not get involved -- to not challenge, to not participate. They're expected just to look at the 30-second ads and go to the polls and vote. That's a pretty anemic democratic policy." (<--i love that last line!)

"...There's another reason people don't vote: they're confirmed cynics. Becasue the cynic is in effect a person who is so turned off by the corruption of politics and the selling of our government elections to special interests that the rationale is: "i don't want to have anything to do with this mess, I'm not going to participate. I'm gonna pay attention to my private life." Well, that's a vacuum that the rascals fill very rapidly. So the cynic, in effect, is also a masochist, because the cynic is a quitter. A skeptical person is a person who comes to the same conclustions as the cynic, but roars back to try and change it. But the cynic is the dirty politicians dream."

"It's ok if you wanna do your thing in the private sector, but just remember that every time you drop out, there's a vacuum. If your neighbor doesn't fill that vacuum with like-minded values, someone else you're not gonna like might fill it -- maybe Exxon-Mobil or a nuclear power plant. So when young people come up to me and say 'I'm not turned on to politics,' I say, 'Look at the lessons of history. If you don't turn on to politics, politics is gonna turn on you, in a very disagreeable way.' You just have to look around the world to document that."

Ralph Nader is a very poor public speaker, and i've always felt that his ideas get across better in print. This interview was fantastic, and alone is worth checking out this issue of PP.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Sorry for the inactivity over the weekend, but Denise was in town and there was a wedding of some high school friends, and labor day is always busy. Highlights from the weekend: Saw El Buho play at the Bowery on Friday night. El Buho himself, plus his bandmates, are a bunch of goofy bastards, but they are definitely skilled. They don't ever practice, either, which makes their show have a cool just jammin vibe to it, but it doesn't get boring, which many jam bands tend to do (in my opinion, anyways). On saturday was my friends' john and hattie's wedding. if you know them, you were probably there, if not, then i wouldn't worry about it. On sunday, denise and i celebrated our 2 year "antiversary", even though it's not really until the 9th. We went to have an appetizer at Charleston's (the spinach and artichioke dip is great there, btw). Then, we went to Borders (novel idea was closed, unfortunately) and bought each other books that we wanted the other to read. She gave me A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (the basis for the Simon Birch movie, which i've not seen). She read it last year and really really liked it. I gave her Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, one of my all time favs. Great book, if you haven't read it. The cool thing is, neither one of us would probably ever read the respective books under any other circumstance, so that's cool. She left on monday, though, to get back to work, and now I'm back blogging again. Yippee.
:: Scott [+] ::
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